Poland’s new president vetoed aid for Ukrainian refugees, raising fears of weakening regional support for Ukraine, according to Dalibor Rohac of The National Interest. As political shifts emerge in Poland, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic, continued U.S. leadership is seen as crucial to maintaining unity against Russian aggression. Rohac writes:
The veto by Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, of a bill extending financial support for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war—and potentially ending Polish funding for Ukraine’s Starlink internet service—might be an unfortunate one-off. Alternatively, it might also be an early sign of a weakening of the Eastern European resolve to bring about a Russian defeat in Ukraine. […]
The Poles, the Baltic nations, and the Czechs have formed the backbone of the regional coalition supporting Ukraine, and that coalition is not going anywhere quite yet. However, the three examples illustrate just how critical US leadership has been in managing the alliance backing Ukraine in the war. In Warsaw, Vilnius, and Prague, leaders typically await and act on cues coming from Washington.
When such signals are either not forthcoming or are ambiguous, it is far from given that the regional actors will always double down on their efforts, as America’s leading “prioritizers” imagine. Some governments might do that—yet others will be too keenly aware of their weakness absent America’s helping hand and will make accommodations with new realities. And if, furthermore, the politics of helping Ukraine becomes more contentious across the region, it is imaginable that the resolve to go the extra mile will weaken. That would be bad news not only for Ukraine but for European security—and for US interests in Europe.
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